Lobbyists Swarm As New Finance Rules Get Hammered Out

Back when the big finance bill passed earlier this summer, we talked about all the details the bill left to regulators to work out.

So it makes sense that lobbyists are descending en masse on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, one of the key agencies involved in writing the new rules.

"The volume and intensity of the lobbying is unprecedented in my experience at the agency," a CFTC commissioner tells Bloomberg News. "They all have an ask. The types of loopholes that people are suggesting exist are either non-existent or very farfetched."

Industry groups are making broader requests, according to the Bloomberg story:

Hedge funds have lobbied the CFTC to be excluded from categories that entail increased scrutiny and higher capital requirements. Airlines and manufacturers who use derivatives to hedge their commodity costs, as well as the dealers who arrange the hedges, want an exemption from having to post cash margin on their trades. Wall Street banks have sought to avoid caps on the number of derivatives a trader can hold.

The first drafts of some of the new rules are due in the next few months, but the process is long and complex, and will likely drag on for years.

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